Parker Inspirations

I started reading in Ezekiel this morning. In chapter two verse 6 &7 “And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.” The part that stood out was “be no afraid of them”.

My thoughts were of the old add-edge, “sticks and stones”. My first thoughts were my fear of what others say about me. That feeling of, No matter what I do they will still only think evil of me. It is like winning first place and someone tries to say you cheated to win. There is a song, “The Cold Water Committee”, that talks about people dowsing you with cold water when you are on fire for God.

Then I thought about when I going soul-winning. The verse says, “speak my words unto them”. Talking to the world and helping them come to Christ is an amazing feeling. I do not fear what they think when they do not want to talk to me. I am doing what the Lord told me to do.

So why does it bother me so much about people at church, what they say. The verses in Ezekiel tells me to not be afraid. I am to do what God wants and not worry about others think. I have always hated the phrase, “Well you think…” Only God knows what I am thinking. None of us are mind readers.

Even as I write this I know that I need to dwell on what God has for me and leave the rest. I know that God thinks good of me. (Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”) Sometimes knowing is not enough. There needs to be action.

As I thought about what that action should be, I thought about how Pastor tells us to put 3 X 5 card in our pockets with verses on them. My thought was to put a card in my pocket with three actions.

1. Smile and name 10 Blessings
2. Sing a song of praise
3. Say a prayer and give it to God

This brought me to another verse in the Bible. Proverbs 23:7a, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:” By doing these actions every time I have a fear of what others might be thinking, I can dwell more on how God thinks of me. The last part of Jeremiah 29:11 is “to give you an expected end.” These are the Blessings that God gives me.

The verse is a command to not be afraid of their words, or how they look at you, and speak his words. It is not based on if they listen or not. It is obeying the Lord and doing what is right.